[honestly? this guy's living the kind of life Cecelia wants; she'd love to be more open and unashamed of her feelings, the way she is in the privacy of her journals. but concepts hardly play out according to plan, and she's too self-aware of her flaws to truly embrace such openness.

she double-takes and hesitates before shifting her hold on her books to take the handkerchief, murmuring a thank-you while dabbing at her eyes and cheeks.]

You...you ought to be careful, though. Pick your stages, I mean. In Maurtia Falls especially; there's a lot of people who hate folks like us.

[a beat.]

People from other worlds, I mean. You might get targeted by unkind sorts.